Classes for children ages 0 - 6 years are being offered at First Conservatory of Music at the First Congregational Church of LaGrange. For more information on curricula and costs please contact Kindermusik educator, Joan Burke, by calling the Conservatory voicemail at 708-352-8843. Visit the Kindermusik website at www.kindermusik.com for everything you want to know about this highly regarded music program for encouraging the development of young children.
A parent or caregiver attends the 45 minute classes with their child until the age of 3. At this age the children enjoy movement activities and playing of simple instruments. Language development is motivated, and creativity is fostered by opportunities to explore different ways of using their own voices and their own ideas for moving and playing instruments.
Three, four and five year olds spend most of the class time without their caregivers present, and then the adults rejoin them to participate in the last fifteen minutes of class time together. Musical concepts of fast & slow, high & low, loud & soft are experienced through imaginative activities, games and songs. The Young Child class for 4 1/2 - 7 year olds teaches basic rhythmic and melodic notation, and teaches how to play glockenspiel (xylophone), dulcimer and soprano recorder.
Each Kindermusik curriculum uses a different group of song material designed around a theme. The Home Materials for each family includes CDs with all of the music and stories; a song book that includes musical notation, lyrics and activity ideas; 2 story books and a simple instrument.
Kindermusik is taught throughout the United States and all around the world.
History of Kindermusik
1960s: A group of music educators in West Germany develop "Musikalische Fruherziehung," or music for the young child. The program helps children experience the joy of learning music before beginning formal music instruction. West Germany's community music schools provide the program.
1970s: Due to growing popularity, the program is translated and adapted for American families and renamed Kindermusik.
- Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey, provides classes for music educators to learn how to teach Kindermusik in the United States.
1980s: Daniel Pratt, a Westminster faculty member and Fulbright Scholar, begins working directly with Music Resources International (MRI), the company that recruits, trains, and supplies Kindermusik educators with curricula.
- Kindermusik is revised for a more culturally diverse audience. The English version of the Kindermusik curricula and teaching method is distributed worldwide.
1990s: MRI moves to Greensboro, North Carolina, and is renamed "Kindermusik International, Inc."
2000s: Kindermusik International's 55 employees buy the privately held company from its 96 investors